


Unmasked: The Kylo Ren Story

by 17blue



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Comedy, F/M, Journalist Rey, Romantic Comedy, Super AU, super emo actor ben
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 04:19:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13240281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/17blue/pseuds/17blue
Summary: Kylo Ren is the biggest character in sci-fi right now and Rey, a young journalist, has just been granted an exclusive interview with him during Comic-Con. Despite knowing nothing about Celestial Battle, she quickly realizes why everyone and their mother is fascinated by this faceless villain and the lore behind the unknown actor who plays him. Determined to get the story, Rey decides that by the end of the weekend she will unmask the true identity of the actor, even if she has to rip it off herself.(AU in which Ben Solo is an actor who wants to separate himself from his character and Rey is a nosy journalist who just wants to finally get some name recognition and become a somebody.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into Star Wars fan fiction and it's probably the goofiest thing I could come up with. I just wanted to write a broody Ben and strong-willed Rey having to deal very closely with each other for a short time. Enjoy!

The San Diego International Airport was a crowded hell-hole full of middle-aged men wearing branded merchandise and children whose hats were embroidered with cartoon characters. Rey weaved her way through the masses as best she could, trying to avoid bumping shoulders with any sweaty men in muscle tanks or spray-tanned women with their oversized Louis Vuitton purses. 

“Rey!” Finn called from behind, tapping on her shoulder as she attempted to pull out of the crowd into an empty Hudson News stand, her backpack slung over a single shoulder adding to her already disgruntled mindset. 

An out of breath Finn leaned against the candy stand, hand over his heart as he mumbled through heavy breaths, “What the hell was that? You’re running like a mad woman. Jesus.” The statement almost felt like a compliment to her because she was a mad woman. A mad women whose stomach had grumbled for the duration of the flight and whose eyes were getting closer to permanently shutting by the second. 

It was a Tuesday afternoon in the middle of July and Rey was tired, hungry, and sweating more than she even thought possible, so to say her patience was being tested was an understatement. Much like a small child exhausted from hours of Disneyland play, she was aware that this is supposed to make her happy, but she was pissed off and irritated anyways. Rey wanted nothing more than to retreat to her own room and begin to prepare for the emotional toll that Comic-Con would take on her introverted nature. The outside world could wait until tomorrow when the fun would really begin. 

Eventually, she discarded all social expectations and just downright screamed. Passerbys looked over at the brunette, face contorted in momentary anger as she pushed her open hand onto Finn’s black shirt, slightly digging into his chest. “I want to take a nap. Is that alright with you?” Her travel companion’s eyes only got wider as his elbow knocked down a display of Hershey bars in an attempt to back away from the very mad, very upset Rey. She was a lot of things, but timid was not one of them.  
“I just want to get to the hotel, take a shower, and sleep until I have to get up and write about an event that I don’t even want to be at. Okay?” After pulling her backpack onto her other shoulder to regain ultimate balance, she turned on the heels of her sneakers which slid squeakily against the floor, and called behind her, “If you want to waste your time, be my guest. But I’m headed to the hotel if you’d like to join me.” It wasn’t long before Finn was jogging behind her, mentally cursing himself for bringing Rey along.

After her outburst, Rey remained mostly quiet as they rode in the cab to the Hilton. She scrolled through Instagram on her phone and looked up who the biggest celebrities at Comic-Con were going to be. Despite being a high-profile convention, all the biggest releases of the year seemed to involve fully grown men in elaborate leotards, which was not nearly as enticing to the female demographic as movie studios seemed to believe. 

The idea of going to Comic-Con in the first place had disgusted Rey. She immediately turned down the offer to cover the event when her boss, Addie Holdo, first asked. In fact, she not only rejected it, but she scoffed at the idea of being forced to attend a convention for fan freaks who couldn’t separate real life from fiction. However, fate was a sneaky thing, and being an intern left her at the bottom of the food chain with not much choice in regard to her assignments. Finn, an editor for the entertainment section of the site, and Rey’s closest friend, had requested her as his assistant when he heard that he would be covering San Diego Comic-Con this year. While he saw it as a chance for the two of them to get a mini vacation from the busy New York streets, she saw it as a sardine can of sexually repressed men and the people who enable their bad habits. 

It wasn’t that Rey was unreasonable. She understood entirely that this was going to be a good break for her writing career. Everyone wanted to read about this event because it connected them to the things they loved, despite being outsiders to it. She knew that she’d probably get more clicks on an article about the gum wrapper of one of these famous characters than she ever would on any of the science articles she actually enjoyed writing. Despite this, Rey was a woman of integrity, and she didn’t sacrifice her soul to work at this site to write frivolous fluff pieces that she didn’t have any connection to. This wasn’t what her chemical engineering degree was supposed to go towards—a fact she was reminded of every time she opened a student loan bill. 

The thoughts of student loans and massive debt began to distract the twenty-three year old just as the taxi pulled up to their hotel. Already anxiety-ridden enough from the impending activities and loan payments she had unintentionally reminded herself of, she was practically foaming at the mouth when Finn placed the keycard in her hand. As soon as the door unlocked, Rey quickly retreated to her home for the week, freeing her legs from the unwelcomed constriction of skinny jeans before crawling into the king-sized bed with her most loyal companion: her laptop. 

Unfortunately, good journalism also requires good research. If you had asked Rey what her first big story would be about, she would not have answered, “Kylo Ren.” But here she was, preparing to interview the most beloved villian in sci-fi history; or so she’d heard from Finn during the plane ride as he kept trying to get back into her good graces with positive spins on a hellish weekend.

Finn had offered his apologies by handing the biggest story of the weekend to Rey. He felt bad for not consulting with her first about the trip, and promised her the exclusive Kylo Ren interview, even though she could tell it pained him to do so. She almost felt bad about taking it, but she knew that Finn had many successful stories, and the opportunity to write one of the biggest stories for the site alone was irresistible. 

Truthfully, Rey was surprised they even kept her on as an intern, let alone a writer, considering no one seemed to be reading her piecess. The more passionate she was about an article, and the more she hyped it up to her colleagues, the worse it seemed to do. This, however, solidified the idea that Rey needed to write the best interview, nay, the best article, that TechToday has ever seen.

With hesitant strokes she typed the name “Kylo Ren” into Google and she was immediately bombarded with results. Rey didn’t live under a rock. She knew that this character was part of the revival of the series Celestial Battle, an 80s sci-fi trilogy that made the term ‘fandom’ a household noun. She also knew that Kylo Ren was the most divisive character in the series. While most stories involve good and evil characters, the dark-robed, masked man somehow seemed to be a little bit of both. Other than that, she had no idea what it was about, or what to expect. As a kid, she missed out on the movies, and by the time she got to college it was too late to catch up. The original trilogy seemed to be the kind of thing people loved because it was nostalgic, and she didn’t want to end up being the loser who didn’t like them so she decided to be the hipster who was too cool to watch them. 

Rey was confused when she began her descent into Kylo’s Wikipedia page. The page seemed to be endless, and despite how hard she looked she couldn’t find anything about the guy who plays him. Apparently, the actor was so private that he hadn’t ever revealed his name. The only thing he had ever been in was the Celestial Battle movies, and he was credited solely as Kylo Ren. “Interesting,” Rey thought as she dug a bit deeper. 

According to the most reliable form of information, the internet, he was a reclusive guy and interviews with him were very hard to score. During press junkets and promotions for the newest movies though he tended to be a bit more talkative, sometimes even telling a joke or two if his mask was on right. From what she could gather, he did every single interview in character, and often his interviews served as meer fodder for the crazed fans of the series. He’d establish fan theories, comment on headcannons, but never give a straight answer to any of the interviewer’s questions.

Rey had heard of extreme method acting, but this guy was something else. He seemed to always be in the robe and outfitted with the voice changing mask. No one knew what he looked like, or even sounded like. He was more enigmatic than the invisible hand inside of Elmo. To be this committed to the role Rey concluded he must be a total weirdo. Who else, other than a completely deranged psycho, would rather spend his entire professional life inside of a costume than let a few people know his real name? 

It was all so strange. Most people go into the business because they crave notoriety, but clearly Kylo’s actor had different motives. Rey deduced it wasn’t for the art of it either because she had watched a trailer for the newest Celestial Battle film and found herself more entranced by the special effects than the acting or dialogue. Although, she did find herself mindlessly admiring Kylo’s broad physique in a scene where he was clothed in an especially tiny cloak. Most of the clips though, had Rey wondering who was behind that metal mask, his voice scrambled until he sounded like he was speaking directly into the rotating blades of a fan. 

Two hours later, and sixteen pages into the 23,000,000 search results, all Rey had learned was that Kylo Ren kept a very private life and she was determined to finally separate the fictional world of Celestial Battle from the real world: Comic-Con.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren/Broody Ben makes his first appearance in the next chapter so that's gonna be a doozy... Stay tuned!


	2. Chapter 2

Rey was woken up by a loud pounding at the door. Muttering curses under her breath, she pulled the loose strands of hair away from her sweaty face and behind her ear, slipping her feet into her trusty old Birkenstocks before cautiously peeking through the peephole. 

“Go away.” She moaned, rubbing her tired eyes after seeing Finn’s overly cheery face. 

It was only 8 A.M., yet Finn seemed to be in better spirits than he had been all week. He was a good guy, always willing to help others, and he was also the closest thing to family Rey had. However, he was also a man of extremes. She spotted a bag of donuts in his right hand, and a coffee carrier in his left before deciding today clearly belonged to  _ Chipper Finn. _ Damn.

“Good morning, sunshine!” He called through the door in a sing-song voice. 

_ "Ha, ha." _ Rey thought as she begrudgingly opened the hotel door. Letting people into her personal space was not her forte, and she would have rather been wearing more than a bathrobe and Birks while going over their daily agenda, but it was Finn, and her sense of pride around him was long gone. 

Perhaps it evaporated during freshman year of college when she threw up all over his brand new white sneakers outside of a club. Or, maybe even the time she told his girlfriend that he had an incurable STD to get her to break up with him. In regard to each other, the pair were fiercely protective, but fiercely loving too. 

Emerging from the bathroom 10 minutes later, Rey had brushed her teeth, pulled her hair back into a messy bun, and put on a casual outfit which consisted of sneakers, jeans, and a sand colored tank top which she’d throw a blazer over later to fake “professionalism”. For Rey, this was as formal as she was willing to get when doing her work. She learned from experience that tight skirts hindered her writing process. Don’t ask.

“Kylo Ren’s publicist called this morning,” Finn said in between bites of a powdered donut, “and she thinks that since this piece is going to be a feature, you should focus all your time on this story.” 

She sat down beside him, taking a sip of her black coffee. “This thing’s like... five whole days,” Rey deadpanned, praying that he couldn’t possibly be suggesting she spend five of her precious days following around a men in a costume. 

“He wants this to be kind of breakout piece about Ren—humanize the guy a little.” 

Humanizing a fictional character seemed absolutely absurd to her, but she knew that she couldn’t fight the guy either. He was the celebrity calling the shots, and what self-respecting journalist would complain about extra time with this mysterious creature? A lunatic. That’s who.

“I’m a writer, not a god.” She scoffed, “I can’t bring a non-sentient being to life.”

“Well you’re gonna have to.” 

“He’s a dude in a mask, Finn, it’s not like he’s an actual person. All of this is so insincere,” Rey argued, wiping the powdered sugar from the corners of her mouth. “I thought it would be an easy story—jot down a couple of answers that his writers fed him, and conclude with a line about how maybe we’re all living behind a mask and  _ blah, blah, blah _ .” 

“We’re not looking for typical fodder here, dude. I wouldn’t have given you this story if I didn’t think you could make something great.” The way Finn said it sounded cold, but it made the empty part of Rey’s cold heart fill for a moment. She almost hugged him, but thought better of it. Instead, she conceded.

“I’ll do my best. Plus, I haven’t even met him yet. Maybe this will go differently than I expect.” Metaphorically, she crossed her fingers, officially manifesting her idea to life. 

“ _ He’s been a tough interview to crack before _ ,” Rey thought, but she’s never been the hammer.

\--

Walking through the doors of the convention was like entering a madhouse. People with badges of varying color ran through the corridors, rushing to get to their destination. Rey and Finn were not those people. Stopped in the middle of the hallway, they anxiously looked at each other before attempting to locate the dressing room of none other than Kylo Ren. 

Rey gripped her press pass until her knuckles were white, scared to lose it. She was a bit of a collector who fancied reselling things when they became valuable, and she assumed if the interview became what she hoped it would that maybe it’d be worth something someday. Positive thinking and all, a page from the books of Finn’s good mood.

“What if he’s, like, a serial killer.” Rey whispered to Finn when they stood outside of Kylo Ren’s dressing room. Her, preparing to meet her Siamese twin for the next few days, and Finn, preparing to meet a long time celebrity crush.

Rey was not expecting him to admit to this, especially not on the airplane when it was too late to turn around. She knew he was a big fan of the movies, but what she didn’t know was that he had a Kylo Ren wallpaper on his laptop, and that his keychain was Celestial Battle themed. Previously, the little helmet meant nothing to her, but knowing it’s origin made it so, so much more embarrassing for him.

Shifting his weight from foot to foot, Finn was more nervous for the door to open than she was. It took every ounce of her self-control not to lightly stomp on his foot to get him to quit it. The fidgeting made her more nervous and Rey wasn’t very familiar with that feeling. Usually, she was calm and collected, having been through enough in her lifetime that very few things served to intimidate her. 

“If he’s a serial killer your story will write itself. What if he’s an  _ asshole _ .” Finn said the last word with such trepidation that it almost seemed like he worried saying it aloud would bring it to life.

Rey threw her head back and laughed, an audible throaty chuckle that vibrated through her whole body. Of course, at the pinnacle of their young careers, Finn was worried Kylo Ren would be an asshole. She almost didn’t have to heart to inform him that he almost certainly was. No one hides behind a mask, free of all blame, without getting a little brave and probably more than a little cocky. 

The door opened and Rey found herself surprisingly disappointed when a tall, smartly dressed woman stepped out from behind. 

“Hello,” The woman said, her voice deep and steady. There was no doubt that she was a commanding presence in any room. She had icy blonde hair, blue eyes, and the kind of body that Victoria’s Secret angels train for. Rey resented her, and she had no clue why. Never before had someone made her feels so inadequate. Rey knew she was pretty, or at the very least passable, but she was on a different level entirely. 

Suddenly, in her sneakers and jeans Rey felt wholly ill equipped for this job. She hadn’t even met the guy yet and she was already giving the site a bad image.  _ Great _ .

“I assume you are from TechToday?” The blonde asked, not looking up from the screen of her phone. Without giving them time to answer she began, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Phasma and I am Mr. Ren’s manager. If you would like to speak to him, you speak to me first. If you would like to see him, you look to me for permission. I am the gate through which all communication travels and as long as you respect the order I will respect your process.” 

Phasma was no nonsense and Rey found herself rolling her eyes while looking at Finn. “ _ What a tightly wound-” _ Rey mouthed, stopping when Phasma finally looked up from her screen. Faking a smile, Rey extended her hand to the woman, Finn following suit.

Swallowing his laughter Finn introduced the pair, leaving Rey to try and get a glimpse of what was behind that door. If he wanted to keep everything so contained, why ask for a story to be written about his daily life? It seemed like an idiotic idea. At least his idiotic idea would pay her grocery bill for a month, and for that she was grateful.

“Rey?” She heard Finn prompt, elbowing her in the side. 

Shaking out of her trance, she nodded.“If you don’t mind me asking, what does Mr. Ren want out of this?”

“Well,” Phasma began, pushing the door entirely open, “I’m sure you noticed that he tends to be quite a private person.” Rey nodded, following closely behind. “But the public has begun to feel disconnected from him. They see him as only a character, but there’s so much more. You see, the mask can only hide so much. There’s a man behind it all and we want you to capture that.” 

Perhaps Phasma was unfamiliar with TechToday, but they weren’t exactly the place to go for hard hitting journalism. Something like this would have been better suited for Interview, or maybe even Rolling Stone. But definitely not TechToday, a website that specialises in reviews of new technology and all things  _ nerd _ . Rey hated the website most of the time and only interned there because: one, Finn worked there; and two, they’d let her write about science, which is all she really cared about. 

After giving Finn and Rey the personal information for herself and Kylo, Phasma informed them that he was running late and they were welcome to stay in his dressing room until he arrived. Rey politely accepted while Finn followed Phasma out, asking where the nearest Starbucks was. 

\--

Two hours had passed before Rey grew tired of scrolling through Twitter on her phone.  _ “Running late, my ass,”  _ she mumbled to herself as she stood up and began combing through the room. She played nice for a long time, but if he wasn’t going to respect her time, why did she need to respect his space?

A rustling behind the second door had caught her attention. At first, she had assumed it was a storage closet of some sort. Perhaps it served as a place to keep the cape, helmet, and mask safe until its owner could put back on his superhero costume and pretend that he isn’t an adult man perpetually stuck in a roleplay. “ _ Actors,”  _ she murmured. What a weird group.

After checking to make sure the coast was clear in the hall, Rey bravely opened the second door. Behind it was another room, about a third of the size of the other one. It was stocked with the basics such as a table and couch to decorate the space. Other than that, though, it was completely bare. 

The centerpiece of the room, however, was entirely unexpected. On the couch sat a man with his head in his hands, looking as if he were practicing a monologue in which he is a groveling husband. 

“ _ How’d he even get in here?”  _ Rey wondered. The man in question had black hair in a messy cut, and even while sitting down she could tell he was  _ built _ . With broad shoulders and muscular arms fighting against the fabric of his shirt she found herself leaning against the door frame and biting her lips. 

However, after realizing that she was acting like a lovelorn schoolgirl, Rey decided to make her presence known. She was a grown ass woman, dammit, and if she wanted to talk a boy she would. 

“Hello?” She waved her hands in front of him, hoping to catch his attention, but he stayed silent and still, hands covering whatever parts of his face his overgrown hair didn’t hide. 

Rey almost left the room when she heard a low voice mumble, “You can’t be in here.”

Rolling her eyes, she pointedly stated, “Actually, sir,” he still didn’t flinch, “I am press, a journalist specifically, and I have been given special permission to be in here while I wait for Mr. Ren, so in this case I think I have the right to ask you,” she said, aiming a finger at the strange man, “what  _ you _ are doing  _ here _ .” 

He chuckled, deep and throaty, the way that Rey imagined a grown man would. It wasn’t like the small laughs of the men she had dated or known, the small, insincere laughs that come up from the the chest. No, no, this laugh was sincerely amused. And sincerely patronizing. 

“Don’t count on that pass to last you much longer,” He stated, looking up. 

His eyes were a dark brown that took her off guard. He was handsome. Well, actually, maybe not handsome… a word which Rey reserved for Harrison Ford and young Joe Biden, but he was stunning. While most people would be overpowered by such a flouncy hairstyle, his face and body were prominent enough to combat its softness. Although in separate parts the pieces of his face could be off putting, together they were kind of endearing. 

“You’re staring.” The stranger said, standing up. He was much taller than she expected and Rey found herself retreating out the door to escape this mysterious figure before remembering that he had just threatened her. While she may have been distracted for a few moments, she knew better than to let him speak to her that way. 

“Excuse me? I was only staring because I was in shock that you, a complete stranger, had the audacity to threaten me!” She yelled, pacing the small room and making louder stomps with each step so he’d get the message. “Clearly, you hold no power here. Look at you—that ratty tee and those emo kid pants! I earned this pass fair and square so excuse me if I get a little bit mad when someone threatens it.” Sighing, she calmed herself down enough to ask, “Who are you, anyway? Some obsessed fan? Because I know who's allowed back here and it  _ definitely _ isn’t you.” 

When Rey was sure that he had gotten the message, she tried to walk out the door holding her head higher than it had been ten minutes ago. 

“Hey,” The voice practically whispered, “I didn’t mean to suggest that you don’t belong here. I’m sorry.” 

Rey felt her anger truly subside at the apology. He may have been an asshole, but his apology fealt real despite having to be forced out of him. 

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” She shook her head and crossed her arms. “I guess I’m just a bit nervous and on edge is all.”

“For the record, I’m not an obsessed fan.” 

“Not an obsessed fan. Got it.” She laughed, pointing at his Celestial Battle t-shirt, “But you do kind of look like one. Or, dress like one at least.” Rey corrected herself. 

She had seen many a fanboy, and most of them weren’t hiding six packs under their merch. Well, at least she assumed that’s what was under his shirt. Not that she was thinking about it. 

Okay, maybe she was thinking about it. But it was purely for safety reasons and she had only sized him up incase he turned out to be a serial killer. She concluded that, yes, she could take him in a fight because even though she was much smaller, she certainly scrappier as well.

The man looked down at his grey shirt, tattered basically everywhere except the design, and shrugged. In getup he looked a bit like he went missing from a pop punk concert, although he looked much older than Rey imagined him to be, and he carried himself like a grown man would too. His laugh matched his face though, strong yet sympathetic. 

He ran a hand through his hair and Rey focused on it, zoning in on his large hand and long fingers before imagining it gripping her waist or holding her against a wall or….

“Yeah, I  guess I do kind of look like that.” He laughed. “Huh. I never really thought about it. Next time I’ll do better. Promise.” His smile was broad and warm towards her and she twirled a loose strand in her hair, biting her bottom lip in a very un-Rey like way.

“It’s okay. It’s um…” She stuttered, blushing a bit. “It suits you.”

The two of them stood in a pregnant silence for a few moments, staring at each other, both too afraid to make a real move. 

Backing out the door Rey sputtered, “Um, I should go and wait. You know, do my job and all.” She turned, giving him one last smile. “I’m Rey, by the way.” 

“Ben.” He waved, closing the door behind her and clicking the lock. 

“ _ What an odd guy,” _ she thought, wondering what was so secret that he had to close himself off from her. Despite this, she found herself fantasizing about running into him again, and this time being brave enough to slip him her digits.

\--

Back in the main room, her phone was buzzing like mad on the couch. 

“Shit!” She exclaimed, going through her notifications. She had 10 text messages and three missed calls from Finn and a minute long voicemail from Phasma when she finally returned to her post. 

Apparently this Kylo Ren fellow was quite the diva and had requested an extra 37 minutes (exactly, according the message) to get ready. Rey found herself amused at his antics already, sure that she wouldn’t be lacking any content. He was already a gift that was giving and she was ready to embrace the madness of this assignment. 

The Finn deal was unrelated to the whole Comic-Con business. He had only called to tell her that he had spotted Robert Downey Jr. outside the convention center, and the sighting was so life-changing that he couldn’t resist pestering her about it. The next four texts, however, were making sure she was still alive and ensuring that Kylo Ren hadn’t murdered her with his “evil villian movie fighting skills”.

Just as Rey was about to return Phasma’s call, the door opened to reveal a towering figure in a recognizable black robe, complete with the helmet and mask. She was expecting the outfit, but she wasn’t expecting him to be so intimidating. Kylo Ren had arrived, and he knew how to make a grand entrance.

Standing up, she extended her hand. “Hello, sir. I’m Rey.” She said, unsure how to address a real life  _ villain.  _ “It’s a pleasure to be writing your story.”

“Dealing with me is never a pleasure.” He replied, his voice changed so much until he sounded like T-Pain.

This was going to be a long, long Comic-Con. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben/Kylo is already difficult and dramatic. I love him.

**Author's Note:**

> Kylo Ren/Broody Ben makes his first appearance in the next chapter so that's gonna be a doozy... Stay tuned!


End file.
